The curse of the 'yes' vote

Author:

Sokwanele

Date:

Feb 15, 2013

Comments:

0

Via the PMT Zimbabwe Newsletter: The COPAC led process has been nothing but a circus so blatantly diverted by politicians leaving a lot of questions unanswered for the common man to question whether if the sole responsibility of writing this law of the land is for a few privileged politicians. Zimbabwe is ours too!

Many still question why the constitution has been reduced to a contest of just three political parties namely ZANU PF and MDC formations instead of the whole nation. This poison that has been injected into our nation must be eliminated because the people of Zimbabwean are not as docile as what the politicians take them to be. While this debate of who should write a constitution appears more poignant with each passing day, what lies ahead of us is not only an onerous task but an important choice to be made by the whole nation that will shape the next generation. It is a task that must be executed with caution by every Zimbabwean. It’s high time we get over the politics of thinking that everything in Zimbabwe starts and ends with Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

“Vote Yes” has been the ZANU PF and the two MDC formations war cry and they have been trying so hard to convince the people of Zimbabwe to support their party positions, they have continued to pursue various subterranean devices, they have gone on an offensive preaching green lies to their supporters about how good the constitutional draft is. If this is not a scandal of untold proportions, then nothing is.

But what’s key to note here is that their supporters are not unthinking robots as they think, but they are human beings with reason and intellect and capable of making informed decisions not because Morgan or Robert advised them to vote yes. It is just political gibberish and daydreaming not supported by any empirical evidence to believe that any progressive Zimbabwean will hearken to the dictates from the political parties. Given the foregoing, the political parties have upped their game in their pursuit of the yes vote by sloganeering the yes vote whenever they get the chance, but the question is what exactly are people voting for when they vote yes? In the end who is going to have the last laugh?

I was amused by the high levels of ignorance people have towards the constitution draft. Recently I had a discussion with a close friend of mine about the draft. He didn’t know that in the new constitution the President may at any time remove the Attorney General from choice. What this means is that if the incumbent president chooses to protect his supporters or apologists from prosecution, the attorney general will have to comply with the presidents’ directive, and failure to do so will result in dismissal. Having such a provision in the constitution allows or gives room for the selective application of the law.

If we look at the prosecution of human right defenders and opposition supporters in the last decade especially under the current Attorney General, Tomana, results of torture, kidnapping and killing by state agents has been on the prowl and it is sad to note that none of these perpetrators have been brought to book. For how long should the country continue stalking under the heel of oppression in as far as selective application of the law is concened? Time would fail me if I am to talk about executive authority. The COPAC draft falls short in addressing issues that affect us on a day to day basis therefore the people of Zimbabwe should reject it by voting a big “NO”.

Many will ask what happens next if we vote no. What it means is that the whole process will start all over again. This will send a direct message to the politicians to put people first.

Those in power and the ones aspiring to get into power are seeking to preserve their interests and the price or sacrifice for such a parochial goal is the ordinary Zimbabwean. This writer is aware that it is natural because of sin, for a robber to protect his loot. The murderer has to continue murdering so as to protect his own life and interest but generally there is a hangman, so is the eternal itness of all human power has an end, today for him, maybe tomorrow for you.

Zimbabweans have been taken for granted for many years and if people can be honest with each other for a moment, we will find out that people have been sidelined from the onset. Firstly the politician tempered with people’s views captured in the national report and replaced them with their own. It is also important to note that the additions and subtraction in the national report were effected during “closed meetings,” far away from people. No one knew the contents of the deliberations.

It is true that the glamour of materialism has to a greater degree destroyed the innocence and purity of the national conscience in Zimbabwe given the suffering that people are going through, but, still beyond our politics, beyond our soulless industrialism, generations after us are going to pay for our careless and treasonous negligence if we always at according to the dictates of politicians.

Why should the next generation suffer for crimes that we can solve today? Voting yes to such a treasonous draft will perpetuate the politics of patronage which will continue to haunt generations to come. Why should politicians rush people into voting for a draft that has shortcomings so that they protect their interests?

How can COPAC delay publishing the national report that has can people’s views and yet it has come up with a draft that s meant to deceive people into believing that it contains their views captured during the outreach programmes.What lies! The shameful thing about this COPAC process is that the political parties are not even remorseful while doing such a treasonous and poisonous act. Common sense and remorse has suddenly disappeared even from the most parties that shamefully call themselves the “people’s party.”

It is against such a background that the same politicians, who have perpetrated unwarranted suffering on the people through demonic and moronic policies such as the indigenization and empowerment, are coming back to the people begging for a “yes” vote come referendum time to extend their looting schemes, yet when they were adding and subtracting the contents of people’s views, they never cared to consult people.

The choice is yours Zimbabwe.

Via PMT Monitor Newsletter, and written by Rawlings Magede a rural political enthusiast who writes from Nkayi, Matebeleland North province.

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